Typically, in order to end medical services, hospitals have to get permission from the Office of Health Care Access, which regulates the industry. Medical providers can petition the state to change the services it provides through what’s called a certificate-of-need.

That process “ensures openness and transparency when health care facilities close or services are terminated,” Fasano said. “It’s important to include the public in the process so that our state can be certain that access to high quality and affordable care is protected. Certainly we don’t want to see families in our cities lose access to local pediatric care without being properly informed and without having an opportunity to voice how service changes would affect them.”